WEST NORRITON — The Norristown boys basketball team have grown so accustomed to zone traps and fast breaks by opposing teams that it’s become second nature. Their size and style of play begs for that kind of attention, and despite the best efforts of all the Suburban One teams, only Wissahickon has prevailed by the skin of their teeth. Norristown bowled over a struggling Upper Dublin team with relative ease Tuesday night, 52-35.

It began much differently than the way it ended, UD guards Simeon Fryer and Kevin Woods drove the lane and attack the Norristown bigs head-on. UD’s zone operated with efficiency, as 6’9” center, Andrew Carber, towered over even the tallest of Norristown’s players. At the end of the first, the Eagles held a two-point-lead, 12-10.

“We’ve had back to back games where we’ve been close, and it’s usually just one quarter where we lose focus,” Upper Dublin coach Josh Adelman said.

That quarter he spoke of would be the second. UD was unable to sink their foul shots, missing five straight, meanwhile Norristown was finding a groove and scoring at will. Extending their lead to 20-10 before UD was finally able to score a bucket. At half, the score was 24-16 in favor of the home team.

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“Everything was going wrong, people not coming to the ball and giving up turnovers,” Fryer said, who had two points in the game.

Norristown continued to roll in the second half, lead by a seemingly unstoppable Josh Johnson, who scored 22 points, nine rebounds and five blocks. UD was desperate for points and conceded to jump shots and excessive dribbling.

“Everyone on the team can score, but we’re not playing together, everyone is playing on their own,” point guard Curt Goff said, leading his team with nine points.

“We know we can do better, we just gotta stay positive.”

UD’s league record now stands at 2-7, which is not a true representation of the talent on their time. When playing with cohesion, they were disciplined on defense and caused numerous turnovers, and on the fast break were quicker than some of Norristown’s speediest guards. But, mental breakdowns after the first quarter, chippy play out of frustration, technical fouls and lax one-on-one play dug them into a hole they couldn’t get out of.

“I’m just shaking my head right now,” Adelman said. “Our goal was to play solid team defense, and after half time to keep our focus and intensity, go strong to the basket, but everything that could go wrong, went wrong.”

“I think it’s just growing pains, but we’re learning from each game we play, we just gotta put people in the right spot to score.”

Norristown hopes to continue their Suburban One domination on Wednesday night against the equally successful Cheltenham, whose one loss in league came last week against Norristown 40-57.